sees...

[phishbreath]

War of the WorldsThe ten-second plot synopsis is this: Cruise, hard-working everyman, and less-than-perfect father, bonds with his kids over a long weekend of intergalactic genocide. The ten-second review runs as follows: The War of the Worlds is no Independence Day - and that’s not a compliment

Comments

forcing my hand...

[gurghi]

I have to part ways with you, quite strongly. WotW is a zeitgeist film which channels (much more than it even 'addresses') a contemporary malaise. While I may too have preferred a classic story that elevates humanity, as a true horror film it does exactly what it should do: produce a kind of awe and dread which diminish humanity altogether. There is no 'story'; the only way to make sense of it is sheer survival. That there is little joy, and almost no heroism (the family's survival is pretty much random), only strengthens the film's point of view; furthermore, the agents of our destruction don't even inspire respect, since their purpose is unclear and their demise is no fault of our own. In that way, the world of WotW is rather godless, but in refusing to provide a true catharsis it also refrains from exalting man. There is little relief upon its conclusion, little comfort to be had in its 'resolution': much like we feel in the wake of 9/11, the 'war' in Iraq, the orange alerts, etc... perhaps no other dominant cultural event has yet taken our fears so seriously, and turned them back on us so unsparingly.

Jaws made people afraid to go into the water. War of the Worlds doesn't manufacture nearly so much as it reflects.